Ovarian cancer (OC) has the highest mortality among gynecological cancers. The lack of early symptoms and the absence of a reliable screening test to detect OC results in over 70% of women being diagnosed after the disease has spread beyond ovary. Late diagnosis of OC drastically decreases 5-year survival rate from about 90% to less than 50%. Therefore, the prognosis for OC is poor with approximately 12,000 deaths annually and 5-year survival of less than 37%.
Currently, physical pelvic examination, ultrasound examination, and blood levels of CA125 are used for detection of OC. However, none of these methods provides a consistent detection. For example, while over 80% of women with OC have elevated blood levels of CA125, blood levels of CA125 are only about 50% accurate in detecting early stage OC. Therefore, poor prognosis associated with OC results from late detection and lack of screening methods to detect OC.